The prospect of an engine-related grid penalty was always going to rear its head for George Russell and Mercedes. A decision has now been reached.
The Brit’s power unit failure in the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia saw a three-point swing to teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli become 18, with the Italian taking second place.
Russell’s retirement in the final stages of the race rendered a huge blow to his title aspirations, with the prospect of an engine change – and a subsequent penalty – continuing to hang over him.
The gut-wrenching failure in Sepang has blunted the Silver Arrows’ plan for Russell to take the penalty after it arrived to its first race with an ADUO-assisted upgrade of its engine, with Russell recently explaining to media, including Motorsport Week, that taking the penalty before the upgrade would mean that “I’d have to take it again, so it made zero sense for me.”
It means that the German marque has been forced to take the penalty now, meaning Russell will start at, or neat to, the back of the grid for the Singapore GP, on the Marina Bay Circuit, not awash with overtaking opportunities.
Russell trails Antonelli by 84 points heading into the weekend, with Antonelli having managed to convert his lowly engine-change grid start in Monza to a hugely impressive victory, defeating Russell in the closing stages.
READ MORE – Fernando Alonso blasts ‘100% unfair’ F1 decision amid Sepang software chaos
Discussion about this post